NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC EXPLORER Xi Zhinong

Xi Zhinong is a top wildlife photographer and filmmaker using his voice and his camera to protect wildlife. His visual storytelling has helped many other endangered species.

His work has earned him numerous photography and filmmaking awards including BBC’s Wildlife Photographer of the Year and the first Chinese member in the International League of Conservation Photographers.

Xi Zhinong’s past projects include the 1992 “Golden Monkey Research Project” at Baima Snow Mountain in Yunnan, which received funding from the World Wide Fund for Nature, followed by the 1995 Yunnan golden monkey work “Mother and Child” which appeared in Newsweek, Time Magazine, BBC Wildlife and National Geographic. In 2002, Xi Zhinong produced the documentary “The Mysterious Golden Monkey”, a project 10-years in the making.  The film was awarded the “Green Oscar” at the Nature Screen Film Festival in the U.K., making it the first Chinese wildlife documentary to win an international award.